BUDGET SESSION FROM TODAY
BJP to take up drought, employees’ issuesShimla, June 22
The Budget Session of the Himachal Assembly, commencing from tomorrow, is likely to be a lively affair with the main Opposition, the BJP, all set to confront the government on issues like drought, victimisation of its workers and employees and reduction in the size of the annual plan.

BJP to observe June 25
as ‘black day’Shimla, June 22
The state unit of the BJP has decided to observe June 25 as a black day in protest against the victimisation of its workers and employees by the Virbhadra Singh government.

Followers of 2 sects clashMandi, June 22
Namdharis and Neeldhari Sikhs, who had been living in peace for several decades here, came to blows over alleged derogatory remarks made sometime back by a self-styled 16-year-old ‘guru’, who claimed himself be the incarnation of Ramji Sahai.

In dire need of sewerageDALHOUSIE: This famous hill station is suffering environmental degradation due to an increase in the population, indiscriminate and unplanned construction, heavy lopping in the Municipal Council forests, faulty garbage management, improper drainage and dumping of debris and rubbish.

Set up vigilance panel to curb graft: parishadShimla, June 22
The Himachal Pradesh Minorities and Social Welfare Parishad urged the government to make provision for the setting up of state Vigilance Commission on the pattern of the Central Vigilance Commission in the proposed legislation for confiscating assets acquired through corrupt means.

Baroda resident fined Rs 9 lakhSundernagar, June 22
The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mandi, Mr R.P. Verma, convicted Ms Sati Rattanam of Baroda (Gujarat) and fined Rs 9 lakh.
Complainant K.L.Malhotra has alleged in his complaint that he was Senior Executive of Golden Forests Ltd and was also authorized to purchase land for the company.

Cong leaders to declare assetsSolan, June 22
With a view to bringing transparency in the working of the state Congress, the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee President, Ms Vidya Stokes, today laid stress on the declaration of assets by the MLAs and ministers.

1 gets life term for murderChamba, June 22
Mr V.K. Gupta, Sessions Judge, here yesterday convicted Nidhia Ram of Halundi village Salooni tehsil in Chamba district for the murder of Amin Chand, an electrician of the Jai Prakash Company, Karian on September 9, 2001.

BUDGET SESSION FROM TODAY
BJP to take up drought, employees’ issues
Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 22
The Budget Session of the Himachal Assembly, commencing from tomorrow, is likely to be a lively affair with the main Opposition, the BJP, all set to confront the government on issues like drought, victimisation of its workers and employees and reduction in the size of the annual plan.

The party, which has been raising these issues outside the House, will be adopting an aggressive posture to put the ruling Congress on the backfoot.

The Virbhadra Singh government is only three and a half months old but some issues like water shortage and drought have cropped up over the period, which the Opposition could use to whip the government.

Mr P.K. Dhumal, leader of the BJP legislative group, has already given an indication that his party would be adopting an aggressive posture during the session. He maintains that the plan size had been reduced from last year’s Rs 1900 crore to Rs 1335 crore in the current year due to the failure of the Congress government to effectively present its case before the Planning Commission.

The plea that non-plan expenditure had been excluded was only a ploy to cover up the failure.

His government was also advised to take similar steps in 1998 but he convinced the Commission about the state’s case and ensured that the plan size continued to increase every year.

The BJP is also likely to raise the issue of vindictive action against its workers and sympathisers, besides large-scale transfers of employees and victimisation of trade union leaders. Water shortage during summer has, over the years, become a regular feature.

The BJP is likely to attack the Congress on the handling of the drought-like situation, particularly in providing drinking water in the affected areas.

Meanwhile, the Congress is still upbeat following the party’s impressive victory in the Assembly election.

The fact that the party won the three tribal assembly seats with record margins will come in handy for it to blunt the opposition criticism.

The ruling party will use the issue of corruption to put the BJP on the defensive and the ongoing investigations into the recruitment scam in the Himachal Pradesh Subordinate Selection Board and various irregularities in Himachal Pradesh University will also come into focus.

There will be 16 sittings during the session in all and the Budget for 2003-04 will be presented on June 26. The standing committees of the House will scrutinise the demand of various departments during the nine-day recess from July 5 to 13. The Budget will be passed on July 16.

The Budget of the state electricity board will be presented and discussed in the final leg of the session.

Shimla, June 22
The state unit of the BJP has decided to observe June 25 as a black day in protest against the victimisation of its workers and employees by the Virbhadra Singh government.

The decision was taken at the meeting of the state executive of the party held convened by Mr JaiKrishan Sharma, President, of the state unit of the party, here today. The party passed a resolution condemning the rein of terror let loose by the Congress regime on party sympathisers. It decided to stage a dharna on the ridge, on June 25 in which the state office-bearers and legislators would participate. Dharnas would also be held at district headquarters from June 25 to July 10. If the government failed to change its vindictive attitude, a state wide stir would be launched.

While Mr P. K. Dhumal, former Chief Minister, and some other leaders attended the meeting, Mr Shanta Kumar, Mr Maheshwar Singh and Mr Suresh Chandel, three MP’s, who are also ex-party presidents, were conspicuous by their absence. This is the second consecutive time since the party’s defeat in the Assembly election that these three senior leaders have abstained from the meeting of the state executive.

Briefing mediapersons about the meeting Mr JaiKrishan Sharma said that the party focussed on the performance of the Congress government which completed 100 days recently.

The resolution passed by the party also took notice of the reduction in plan size and blamed the government for it. The decision to review the agreements for hydel projects was also criticised as it would discourage investors.

It accused the government of pressurising panchayats functionaries to change the set up in BJP-dominated Panchayati Raj institutions.

The meeting also finalised the schedule for organisational poll. The membership would be certified in registers by July 15 and elections of polling booth level committees would be held from August 1 to 30. The constituency unit elections would take place from September 1 to 15 and district units from September 15 to 25. The election of the state party chief would be held between September 26 and 30. The final date would be specified by the central returning officer.

Mandi, June 22
Namdharis and Neeldhari Sikhs, who had been living in peace for several decades here, came to blows over alleged derogatory remarks made sometime back by a self-styled 16-year-old ‘guru’, who claimed himself be the incarnation of Ramji Sahai. The teenaged ‘guru’ has been adopted by three families of Neeldharis in the town and a few others elsewhere in the country.

A large number of Namdhari youths assembled outside the residence of one of the three devotees of the new ‘guru’ and raised slogans. As tempers were running high and clash between the three Neeldhari families and Namdhari youths seemed imminent a police party arrived on the scene and defused the situation.

Namdharis allege that during the visit this self-styled ‘guru’ had made insulting and unbecoming remarks against their ‘guru’ in a discourse which had also been telecast by a local channel. Later, the office of the channel had caught fire at night in mysterious circumstances causing loss of lakhs.

Earlier during the day a Namdhari from Delhi who also owed allegiance to the teenaged ‘guru’ was assaulted by some youths outside the gurdwara making the situation tense. District authorities claim that the situation was under control.

Later in the evening, a five-member delegation of each community was called by Deputy Commissioner J.P. Singh, in his office where Neeldharis expressed regret over any remarks which might have been made by the ‘guru’ which hurt the feelings of Namdharis. They pledged to maintain the traditional peace and brotherhood between the two communities.

DALHOUSIE: This famous hill station is suffering environmental degradation due to an increase in the population, indiscriminate and unplanned construction, heavy lopping in the Municipal Council forests, faulty garbage management, improper drainage and dumping of debris and rubbish.

Though the Himachal Pradesh Town and Country Planning Act and the building bylaws of the Dalhousie Municipal Council are stringent, these are flouted with impunity. Incomplete structures and heaps of sand and gravel everywhere have spoiled the urban scene. Even though the Town and Country Planning Department has issued notices to offenders and various government departments, the violators have not bothered to refer their development proposals to the Planning Department for land-use clearance.

It appears that the state government has yielded to the pressures that miscreants apply through underhand methods and political manoeuvres. In order to save this hill station from further degradation, it is imperative to create a “heritage-cum-conservation zone” for Dalhousie like in Chamba town.

Traffic congestion, coupled with paucity of parking lots, has made things miserable in the town. Accommodation for tourists is scarce. Except for “Hotel Manimahesh” owned by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development (HPTDC), the government does not seem to be much worried about providing enough accommodation for tourists. Even though the tourist inflow has increased considerably, the development of corresponding infrastructure has lagged behind.

A thorough probe into the functioning of the Municipal Council and the bylaws is needed to put an end to corrupt practices.

Another serious problem that afflicts Dalhousie is the piling up of garbage and sewage. The hill station, which houses a cantonment, various important government offices, educational institutions, hospitals, hotels and colonies and markets surprisingly has no sewage disposal system. Open spaces in forests are used as dumping grounds. Untreated liquid and solid wastes cause enormous damage to environment. After a little spell of rain, nullahs are filled with garbage. Drinking water sources at the lower level get contaminated.

In order to save the town and the villages down below from contamination and to contain the danger to environment and ecology, it is indispensable to treat, dispose or recycle solid and liquid wastes. The Himachal Pradesh Government approved a Rs 8.5-crore sewerage scheme for the town in March, 1996. But before work on the sewerage scheme is undertaken, sufficient water is essential to drain out sewage. This requires augmentation of the existing water supply scheme for the town. A prestigious Rs 7.35-crore scheme was sanctioned for the purpose by the state government in 1995. Under the scheme, water will be lifted from a source, Bathri stream, at Sherpur near the Ravi. Work on this scheme, which started some time ago, needs to be speeded up.

Shimla, June 22
The Himachal Pradesh Minorities and Social Welfare Parishad urged the government to make provision for the setting up of state Vigilance Commission on the pattern of the Central Vigilance Commission in the proposed legislation for confiscating assets acquired through corrupt means.

Mr Rajeshwar Negi, President of the Parishad, hailed the decision of the government to enact such a law during the Budget session and said it would become an effective tool to curb corruption only if legislators, councillors and other political persons were also brought in its ambit. Further, the investigating agencies like the Vigilance and Enforcement Departments should be put directly under the state Vigilance Commissioner.

To ensure that cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act were taken to their logical conclusion. Special designated courts should be set up. All public servants including legislators, elected representatives of autonomous bodies, cooperatives and financial institutions should be covered under the proposed law.

A provision should be made for mandatory declaration of assets within one month of the notification of the new law by all those holding public offices. The assets accumulated through illegal means including smuggling of drugs, timber, minerals and other natural resources should be confiscated.

Even private entrepreneurs and individuals who had amassed assets disproportionate to their known sources of income should be covered under the Act. And lastly, those giving bribes should also be brought in its purview.

Complainant K.L.Malhotra has alleged in his complaint that he was Senior Executive of Golden Forests Ltd and was also authorized to purchase land for the company. The convict was Development Adviser of the Company and agreed to purchase land in the name of company and for this transaction the complainant had paid Rs 6.50 lakh through demand draft of 28-5-97, the money was received by the convict , but she did not purchase the land for the company. Later the complainant asked the convict for payment on this the convict issued a cheque for Rs 6.5 lakh of May 2, 1999, to the complainant to discharge the liability. The cheque was presented for encashment but it was dis-honoured by the bank.

The court held that the complainant had proved the case beyond reasonable doubts and passed the conviction order yesterday. The court observed that the amount be given to complainant as compensation after due notice of Golden Forests Ltd. The court observed that complainant shall be entitled to this amount only after the satisfying the claim of Golden Forest Ltd or its creditors.

Solan, June 22
With a view to bringing transparency in the working of the state Congress, the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee President, Ms Vidya Stokes, today laid stress on the declaration of assets by the MLAs and ministers. Asserting that while she had already declared her assets, directions would soon be issued to others in this regard.

Talking to mediapersons here today, she said necessary amendments would be made in the MoU signed with private hydel power companies to ensure that the locals get the requisite share of job in all categories.

Chamba, June 22
Mr V.K. Gupta, Sessions Judge, here yesterday convicted Nidhia Ram of Halundi village Salooni tehsil in Chamba district for the murder of Amin Chand, an electrician of the Jai Prakash Company, Karian on September 9, 2001.

The Session Judge sentenced Nidhia Ram to life imprisonment and fined him Rs 2,000.

ON the night of September 9, 2001, the murderer Nidhia and the deceased Amin Chand consumed liquor and exchanged hot words. Next day, the body of Amin Chand was found in the “dhaank” at Lafla Phat.

Nidhia Ram was arrested. During an interrogation, he helped recover blood-stained clothes of the deceased and blood-stained stones with which he had beaten the deceased to death.

Shimla, June 22
The state Non-gazetted Services Federation faces yet another split over the organisational elections with Mr Ganga Singh, its president, today declaring that any association which goes ahead with election in violation of the decision of the federal committee would be disaffiliated. The term of the office-bearers will expire on June 28 but the federal committee has decided to defer the poll.